Viva La Pants: ZUG's 1st Annual Yes Pants Subway Ride A comedy article
by Henry Harvey, Comedy God 370 14 01/10/2011 04:27 PM 24464 views
by Henry Harvey and John Hargrave
Undoubtedly the biggest prank event of the year is Improv Everywhere's annual No Pants Ride, where ordinary people strip down to their skivvies in the dead of winter, then ride the subway as if it's perfectly natural. The event started in 2002 with seven guys. This year there were an estimated 3,500 pantsless riders in New York City alone, and it has become a global phenomenon spanning 24 countries.
Since the No Pants Ride now has more participants than all five Woodstock festivals combined, we at ZUG decided to buck the trend this year with a counter-prank: the YES PANTS RIDE.
We started off by shooting an e-mail to Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd:
From: John Hargrave To: Charlie Todd Subject: No Pants? YES PANTS!
Charlie Todd!
Your "No Pants Subway Ride" has become so popular that over half of New York City will not be wearing pants this year!
Therefore, we are launching our own COUNTER-prank, the "YES Pants Subway Ride". Our ARMY of improv performers will show up on subway cars all over the world, WEARING PANTS!
We will infiltrate your pantsless performers so thoroughly that you will not know who we are. It'll be an old-skool improv team battle, ComedySportz style! If everyone on our RSVP list shows up, we may even outnumber your team!
We're going counter-COUNTER-cultural with this one! Get ready!
I've been hemming all week, John
We spent months recruiting volunteers from around the world, who were willing to buck the trend and wear pants on the subway. We had to point out the many benefits to pants like "warmth," "pockets," and "ability to cover genitals."
Initially, it was a tough sell. Many hemmed and hawed, not willing to wear pants for fear of being labeled "weird" or "prudish." But slowly we got a leg up on the No Pants Ride, and by early January, our Facebook page had over 3.2 million confirmed participants.
Here's a brief rundown -- with actual photos -- of our talented improv performers from around the world. Viva la pants!
NEW YORK
The afternoon began with a massive gathering to protest the fascist Pants-less improv hegemony. Many reported that, in a true spirit of defiance, they were not wearing undewear.
Our Pants-On Pranksters storm up the escalators at Grand Station.
All across New York, subway platforms were packed with improv performers wearing pants. While No Pants riders tried to act nonchalant, Yes Pants riders personified nonchalance.
Many people got creative with their costumes. Some dressed as Wall Street types, wearing expensive suit pants that they no doubt rented for the occasion.
The brothers uptown showed off their sweatpants, upside down no less.
We persuaded this young lady to join the pants-on movement. (Okay, we scared her into it by saying we were from Homeland Security and needed to search her panties.)
Afterwards, we all went to Soho's exclusive Klub Korduroy, where everyone had to agree: it was the most fun we'd ever had ... with our pants on.
But that was just New York. Wait until you see the fun people had around the globe on Yes Pants Day -- as well as Improv Everywhere's response!
Female riders may be outnumbering male riders for the first time. Apparently it's now the nerd-girl equivalent of Halloween: dress like a slut and pretend it's just "for fun."
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